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Saturday, April 29, 2006

Chicken Stew with Lentils

I know, the title isn't particularly appealing (or at least not to me, the lentil-hater) but the dish - oh, the dish. See, this tastes so incredibly good, there's just no way you can't make it. Everyone should make it. Tonight. Yes! Reading down the ingredients list, it's really more of a winter dish, but it works fine for a chilly spring evening as well. And perhaps you'll be surprised to see the apple juice in there - but it really ties the whole thing together. Don't skimp on the lentils - buy the best you can get, preferrably small French Puy Lentils. And feel free to omit the crème fraîche if you want to, it's still very good without it.

The recipe is from a book I haven't used very much - The One-Pot and Clay-Pot Cookbook, by Jenni Shapter.

Prepare the vegetables - peel and cut the onion, the carrots, leeks and swede into small dice. Heat the oil in a large pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and brown them in the oil. Remove.

Fry the onion gently in the same pot, until it softens slightly. Add the other vegetables and the lentils, and fry for a couple of minutes.

Put the chicken back in the pot, on top of the vegetables, and pour in the concentrated apple juice and the chicken stock. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, and a few pinches of dried herbs. Put a tight lid on the pot and let it simmer for about an hour or until the chicken and the lentils are done. You can also do this in an oven, at about 190°C.

Stir the cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water. Stir this into the pot along with the mustard and the crème fraîche. Let the stew thicken for a few minutes, and then serve, topped with fresh oregano.

10 comments:

I don't very often bookmark something in THREE places but this one goes into rutabagas, black lentils AND lentilles du Puy! (Over-organized? Perhaps. But it really helps with ingredients that are often on hand.) Alanna

Holy cow, Anne! I just made this stew and I think I've died and gone to heaven! I never would've thought to add mustard and creme fraiche to a stew before--it's creamy and bold and divine! Thanks for the recipe; this one's a keeper!

This recipe is amazing, thank you! I cooked it in the oven and it was so melt-in-the-mouth delicious when I tasted it that I couldn't bring myself to complete the recipe with the mustard, creme fraiche and cornstarch (However I had rubbed seasoned flour into the chicken prior to browning it). I'll just have to make it again to try it with those final ingredients. Holly

This came up in a google search for chicken and lentils. The fact you don't like lentils but love this stew has sold me on it for tonight's dinner. I'll let you know how it turns out -- sounds amazing!

Thanks for the great recipe. I hadn't cooked with crème fraiche before and thought I'd have to sub for it but found it at my local supermarket. Used white turnip in place of rutabaga (yellow turnip). Came out really nicely and I'm looking forward to making it again. Also, only had dried thyme, rosemary, and oregano and they were perfectly good here. A delicious and forgiving recipe.